Lejzor Tokar, Prisoner of War

Over the past few months I've learned a lot about the fate of my Tokar cousins of Brest-Litovsk, Poland (now Brest, Belarus). With the help of cousins, I've been able to identify 12 victims who died in the Brest Ghetto. I have photo IDs for 10...the other 2 were children too young to be issued their own ID papers. As I add these new names to my family tree I also go back to the JewishGen databases (http://www.jewishgen.org/) for another sweep of the results of a "sounds like" Tokar search to see if there is any information that didn't match up to my family on prior searches but that now fits. This is how I found Lejzor Tokar, my first cousin twice removed.

I found a listing for Lejzor Tokar of Brzesc, son of Szymon, in the Polish Jewish Prisoners of War Registration Card database. I immediately sent an e-mail to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for a copy of the record and they sent me 4 images, 3 cards, 1 of which has 2 sides. With the help of fellow researchers I have the translations of the information on these cards and thanks to the internet, I've been able to learn more about the places mentioned and I also mapped out Lejzor's journey. Here is his story (sorry it doesn't look nicer but inserting images messes with the spacing):





Card 1: Stalag VIII-A and Stalag XIII-C











More details after research:
Stalag VIII-A, located east of Gorlitz, Germany (now Zgorzelec, Poland) was established in Oct. 1939 to hold prisoners taken during the Sept. 1939 invasion of Poland. By Jun. 1940 most of the Polish prisoners have been moved to other prison camps.



Card 2, side 1: Lejzor Tokar, born May 2, 1913 Brzesc, Jewish, father Szymon, mother's maiden name Engiel. Polish Army, rank soldier, 22nd Infantry Division Regiment. Civil profession: butcher. Captured Sept 17 [1939] in Ilow. In good health, height 157, hair dark blond, no physical marks. Person in homeland is his wife Hancze Tokar, Brzesc, Kobrynskastrase 133.




More details after research:
Ilow=Deutsch-Eylau, Prussia, now Ilawa, Poland. This is about 100 miles from Warsaw, Poland and a region of heavy fighting in September 1939 when the Polish Army was trying to block the invasion by the Germany Army.

Hancze Tokar=Chana Tokar. I have a Brest Ghetto ID for a Chana Tokar, also born 1913, and daughter Gita born 1939. This is likely Lejzor's wife and daughter.

Butcher - Lejzor's father Szymon was a butcher as was his grandfather Mojsze (my gg-grandfather).

Card 2, side 2:


Jan. 6 1940-Workers Commando no. 260
Feb. 10 1940-Klausaurach, Germany
Feb. 10 1940-Workers Commando no. 261
Oct. 15 1940-moved to internment camp at Hammelburg, the Stalag XIII camps
Nov. 26 1940-moved to Spreefurt, Germany and then Rothenburg, Germany










More details after research:
Workers Commandos - these were labor squads sent out from prison camps to work in the surrounding communities. I don't know the location of no. 260 but no. 261 appears to be in or near Klausaurach.

Hammelburg-the Stalag XIII camps were located near this town. The cards show that Lejzor was in XIII-C and at some point transferred to XIII-A. XIII-A was formed in Aug. 1940 after XIII-D split into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Spreefurt, Germany - this town was known by this name only during the war. Before and after the war the name was/is Uhyst.

Rothenburg, Germany - there are several towns in Germany that begin with this word but based on the timeline of this story, I think Rothenburg/Oberlausitz is the correct town.






Card 3: the only new information on this card is the handwritten notation at the bottom dated Dec. 19 1940...


Versengen uber Gesn which means burned on gases.


As you will see on the map below which traces Lejzor's journey, this means that he was taken back east to Poland to the concentration camps. I don't know if Dec. 19 is the date he actually died or the date he was left to his final fate (see update below map).

Point A - Deutsch-Eylau, Prussia (now Ilawa, Poland) - Lejzor taken prisoner, Sept 17 1939
Point B - Gorlitz, Germany (now Zgorzelec, Poland) - Stalag VIII-A
Point C - Klausaurach, Germany, Feb 10 1940
Point D - Hammelburg, Germany - Stalag XIII camps, Oct. 15 1940
Point E - Uhyst, Germany - Nov. 1940, transfer back east
Point F - Rothenburg/Oberlausitz, Germany - Nov. 1940, near Polish border
Point G - Lublin, Poland - Lipowa 7 camp; Majdanek was a few miles away


View Larger Map


Update 12/20/2009:
After my original post above, a fellow researcher sent me more information about these POW cards and the fate of prisoners. It is unlikely that Lejzor died on Dec. 19 1940 as that ominous note on card 3 implied. In Dec. 1940, Lejzor arrived at the labor camp on Lipowa Street in Lublin, Poland called Lipowa 7. This camp was still managed by the Judenrat at this time but within a couple of months, the S.S. took over. Prisoners were employed in repair shops and building activities in the region. There is no way to know Lejzor's actual date of death. Many prisoners were killed for any number of minute reasons on a daily basis. In Aug. 1942, the Germans began deportations to the Majdanek death camp. By Nov. 3 1943 the last of the prisoners in Lipowa 7 had been murdered at Majdanek. It's ironic that after all Lejzor endured, he ended up dying within 100 miles of his hometown of Brest-Litovsk.

Klein is just Klein

I grew up on Long Island in the New York City area. The KLEIN name was common enough, several pages in the phone book with this spelling alone, that I don't remember anyone ever questioning me about the spelling. I've been living outside of the New York City area for almost 19 years and it seems that few people know that KLEIN is the "right" way to spell KLEIN.

I say the "right" way because I think it is the more common spelling and it is also the historical spelling. The word klein comes from German for small. I've also seen it in Flemish subtitles...Flemish is based in Dutch with has similar origins to German. KLEIN is the spelling used by my great-grandfather Abram when he departed from Hamburg. He wasn't German...his last residence was listed as Kovno, Russia which is Kaunas, Lithuania but I have no evidence to prove whether he lived in the "big city" or a nearby town. Yiddish has a basis in the old High German and many of the Jews of Eastern Europe have ancestral roots (several hundred years further back than I'll ever be able to trace) in the region that is now Germany. This is why so many Jews have German sounding surnames. KLEIN is not only a Jewish name...it's a name that anyone with ancestral routes in this region could have without regard to religion. In Eastern European records I need to look out for the spelling KLEJN.

So where did the spellings KLINE and CLINE come from? Well, I can't speak for all of the spelling changes but my understanding that these names were originally spelled KLEIN in America but were changed during the world wars when people were trying to hide their German heritage. These are the types of name changes that make me giggle. The name sounds the same for all three of these spellings...was anybody really fooled by this. Maybe, who knows.

I find that many people now assume that when I say KLEIN I mean KLINE or CLINE. It's fun sometimes when I walk into CVS to pick up a prescription and the clerk asks for my name, I say KLEIN, and they go to the C bin without asking me the spelling. I like see how much time they will waste before they ask. Then they will ask, I'll say K-L-E-I-N, and they start looking for KLINE...all they heard was K instead of the C they were looking for and didn't bother listening to the rest of it. And then there are the instances when people see KLEIN and say CLEAN. My dad actually received a letter once addressed to "Mr. Clean."

When I travel outside the US I don't seem to have this problem...it's isolated to the US. I'm looking forward to my trip to Israel next month when I won't have to spell my name for anyone.

Nathan Lutzky US Passport, page 1 front page

We have Nathan's passport application. He applied for the passport after receiving word that there were 9 relatives in Europe in desparate need of help after living through WWI. The original Yiddish letter asking for help supposedly contained a list of these relatives but the letter did not make into the final application file and the list of relatives (names and ages) did not make it into the partial English translation of the letter (darn it!).

Nathan's grandson Barry gave me this original passport yesterday and it's the first time I've seen this type of document. The other pages have all of the foreign travel stamps & visas. They are also being posted on the blog so I can get help with the translations. This page is in English and I have typed the text below.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PASSPORT

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:

The undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of

America hereby request all whom it may concern to permit

Nathan Lutzky

a citizen of the United States safely and freely to pass and in case

of need to give him all lawful Aid and Protection.

This passport is valid for use only in the following countries

and for objects specified unless amended:

(left side)

Roumania

France, Switzerland, Italy

Kingdom of Serbs Croates and Slovenes

(right side)

To assist relatives

-------en route-------

The bearer is accompanied by---------------------

Given under my hand and the seal of the Department of State at the

City of Washington the 16th day of December

in the year 1920 and of the Independence of the United States the

one hundred and forty fifth.

Signed Bainbridge Colby

PERSONAL DESCRIPTION

Age 36 years Mouth medium

Height 5ft 7in Chin round

Forehead medium Hair brown

Eyes blue Complexion fair

Nose straight Face oval

Distinguishing marks-----------------

Place of birth Russia

Date of birth December 15th, 1884

Occupation furrier

Signed Nathan Lutzky

Nathan Lutzky US Passport, page 2

Please help with translation

Nathan Lutzky US Passport, page 3

Please help with translation

Nathan Lutzky US Passport, page 4

Please help with translation

Nathan Lutzky US Passport, insert page 1

Please help with translation